Saturday 31 May 2014

Trip Planning Part 4

Only seven weeks left, that's forty nine days until we join the 'white liners'! Where has all the time disappeared too? With the time to depart approaching we removed the 'bash plates' last weekend from the Terracan (with the welcome help of Derek) to check all is well and perform a service, basically only need an oil change and filter but will replace the air filter as well. Just as well that she who must be obeyed is so observant, a few weeks ago she had noticed that there was a small damp patch under the front when she parked the Terracan after shopping. We found that the radiator had a slow leak, so it was back to Campbellfield Radiator Service who repaired it under warranty, so now that problem is sorted out.

As yet we have not made bookings for the last part of our journey and are considering just stopping when we feel like it. Night stops will then be near Margaret River, Albany, Esperance, Wave Rock, Norseman, Balladonia, Mundrabilla, Border Village, Ceduna, Port Agusta and arriving at Broken Hill on the 16th September, where we will spend three nights. this will allow for two full days to do research on Kathleen's family tree. It will then be an easy two days to do the last 840 Km arriving home on the 20th.

We will be crossing the Nullarbor Plain for the second time, it is the world’s largest limestone karst landscape with an area of 270,000 square km, between Norseman and Ceduna a distance of some 2,000Km, and is the home of Australia's longest straight road 146.6 Km that's 90 miles! It's second only to Highway 10 in Saudi Arabia from Haradh to the border which is 162 miles.




 The name Nullarbor means "no trees" but the plane is covered with drought-resistant hardy shrubs. The Head of the Bight a 15 Km long section near the Nullarbor Plain is the place to see the Southern Right whales who gather there en masse to give birth to their calves between June and October, with some luck we will see then close to the shore again.

Well that's the plan at the moment.


Until next time...................Remember opportunities are endless.

Trip Planning


Saturday 10 May 2014

Trip Planning Part 3

The time for us to depart on our trip has been brought forward as we received exciting news that our 14th grand child will be arriving at the end of September and we need to be back home at least two weeks before then. It is fast approaching, with only 70 days remaining before we bid our nest farewell, activate the Memory Map and depart with our trusty Terracan and Snowy Caravan. By moving our departure date from 1st August to 19th July we have in effect gained four days as the first is a Friday, this will allow us to spend at least two full days in Broken Hill on our return. The reason for the strange deviation from the normal route is that we will be able to do some research on the family tree. Why there you may well ask? The reason is that Kathleen’s mum was born there, the house she lived in until she was 11 years old still stands and is someone’s home today, so what better place to do research? We have visited Broken Hill twice before for a few days so have seen most of the sites, this time our visit will be dedicated to research, should be interesting.

Using Memory Map and the Camps App on my iPad to find where to night stop I have spent the last week or so checking out the caravan parks and made bookings as far as the Pinnacleswhich is some 200 Km from Perth. I also found a great free App for things to do and see in WA, it has directions and distance from your current position as well as photos of the location, it’s like having an information center on your iPad, one has the choice of downloading a file so when you do not have internet connection you can still do research. As we are driving Kathleen will be able to enter to next town and we can decide what we wish to visit. It would be great if the other states had the same App, it sure would make life easier.



We have decided to visit Marble Bar a town in the Pilbara region of north-western Western Australia. It is well known for its extremely hot weather, and is reported to be the hottest town in Australia. The town set a world temperature record for the most consecutive days of 37.8 °C or above, during a period of 160 days from 31 October 1923 to 7 April 1924.During December and January, temperatures in excess of 45 °C are common, as we will be there in August it will not be too hot, should be about 30°C


Until next time ............................. Give what you can

Trip Planning
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...